Just a Computer
by Soror Curantis
Summary: Uncle Virge tried to be a good guardian for Jack, but what could a computer do for a teenaged boy? [Twelve Shots of Summer: Quarter Queller]


With his duty in taking care of Jack, Uncle Virge had done an adequate job at lending him emotional support and managing the _Essenay_ for him. But at times, it felt like...like he wasn't enough.

It had been three years since Jack's upbringing had been entrusted to him. Virgil Morgan had been on his last legs, putting in the final touches of his farewell gift for Jack, when he activated Uncle Virge. The old man had been shaking violently with barely suppressed coughs as he greeted the computerized version of himself.

 _"We have to keep it a secret when I die,"_ he had wheezed. _"The government would try to take him and control his future, and we both know how much I don't trust those higher-ups. But that doesn't change the fact that a lad at his age shouldn't be left to fend for himself. Take care of him until he's safe."_

So, Uncle Virge had done his best. He had continued to teach the original Virgil's one-man-for-himself philosophy, in hopes that the lad wouldn't be taken advantage of. He even tried to research more on the art of safe-cracking to help Jack progress (as if he wasn't skilled enough already) in his uncle's old line of work. When their supplies were running low, he had suggested that they pull a scam. The boy surprised him when he claimed that he didn't want to continue stealing and conning. As he _was_ the imprint of the notorious con-man, Virgil Morgan, he had tried to convince Jack out of his ridiculous idea.

 _"C'mon, lad,"_ he had said later on in the argument. _"You know next to nothing in anything besides your current profession."_

 _"That's not true,"_ the boy had insisted. _"I know some magic tricks that Uncle Virgil taught me for his scams."_

 _"But like you said, those were for_ scams. _A distraction! You aren't good enough to make a living off of that."_

For a second, Jack had looked doubtful, and the computer thought he had won. But then the boy's eyes had narrowed. _"Don't act like I'm not familiar with your style of conning, Uncle Virge."_

It was then that the computer realized that he couldn't control everything that Jack did. Then when Jack was framed for stealing some cargo while on the delivery job, he was able to whisk him away from the crime scene before the cops arrived. But he was _unable_ to clear the lad's name. After that, he started to notice all the things that he couldn't do.

When Jack's fourteenth birthday came by, Uncle Virge realized how pitiful it was that the boy had to make his own cake, set up his own decorations, and sit at the table by himself. Uncle Virge was annoyed with Morgan for not taking vocal lessons when he attempted to sing "Happy Birthday".

Jack's only companion was a computer. A computer who wasn't a person, making Jack utterly alone.

But then Draycos came.

Uncle Virge despised him the moment he learned of the dragon's living existence.

The worst aspect about the alien was that he was a poet. A poet-warrior of the K'da, to be precise. As if his "warrior ethics" of what was right and what was wrong wasn't enough, his need to wrap himself around a host in a two-dimensional form was just disturbing. Even if he would die if he didn't do it within six hours.

The computer often found himself wishing that Jack hadn't been a compatible host.

Both he and Jack found the K'da annoying. But even so, he noticed that Jack seemed somewhat relieved to have another soul around.

That was what irked him above all about Draycos: he could offer Jack what Uncle Virge himself couldn't.

Continuously, the computer tried to ditch the dragon with Star Force. Yet, just as continuously, Jack reminded him of the lad's promise to save Draycos's people from genocide.

To open Jack's accessibility around the Orion Arm, Draycos figured out who had framed the boy and had cleared his name. Something that Uncle Virge had tried and failed to do.

Uncovering the identities of the mercenaries who had ambushed Draycos's fleet was an extremely unsettling process for Uncle Virge. The documents that Jack had to hack into weren't located in Uncle Virge's more comfortable regions of the Orion Arm. Mercenary schools for high schoolers weren't exactly a soothing place for him to leave Jack. But a slave colony was even more terrifying. Both Jack had went into for his search for Draycos's documents. Both times Uncle Virge could only watch from the sidelines.

Draycos kept his promise to protect Jack, hiding on his back when he went into those Godforsaken lands. With his military experience, he fought back adversaries when needed. Back on the _Essen_ ay, the dragon was an expert when it came to space battles. While Uncle Virge had carefully studied fighting techniques, he wasn't nearly as amazing as Dracos when it came to impromptu fighting. The K'da would never get him to say "thank you" for all of his battle advice.

Right now, Draycos was again watching over Jack as they trekked across Rho Scorvi to find the crash landed _Essenay_. What use Uncle Virge had been to the lad. Here he was again, watching from the sidelines.

It wasn't until Jack and Draycos had made it back to the _Essenay_ when Uncle Virge realized something. Jack had been crying, greatly relieved to see the computer again.

Uncle Virge was an emotional support for him, the computer and the ship being a secure haven.

Maybe Uncle Virge would be able to keep his promise after all.

* * *

 **A/N: This is for the [Down to the Foundation] prompt for [Twelve Shots of Summer: Quarter Queller].**

 **I will greatly appreciate any feedback and constructive criticism I receive.**

 **Thank you for taking the time to read this!**


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